Steam-trap.



. Patented Nov. Il, i902. W. T. POWERS.

ST E A M T R A P (Application led Apr. 7, 1902.)

(No Modelr) UNrrsn STATES" Parenti Fries.

WILLIAM T-.POWERS, OF SYRAOUSE, NEI/V YORK. Y

STEAM-TRAP.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 713,148, dated November 11, 1902.

Application filed April 7, 1902. Serial No. 101,714. (No model.) i

To all whom, it Wtoty concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. Powsns, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Sy racuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Steam- Traps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

the accumulation of water by a full openingV My invention relates to steam-traps for automatically and periodically discharging the water of condensation which accumulates in all apparatus employed in the production of steam for the generation of power or for heating purposes. It is quite important in this class of devices that the intermittent action of the Vdischarge-valve shall be positive at periodic intervals, so as to freely discharge and then positively and promptly close after the discharge, thereby preventing undue loss of steam and excessive wear upon the valve.

To secure the best results, it is quite as important to prevent all leakage of water when the valve is closed through the journal thereof which will lower the water or flotation line or tend to fill the bucket-float through its tribular arm,and thus sink it prematurely and open the valve without the power of automatic res,- toration. This I accomplish by the means about to be described, an important element of which is the placing of the discharge-valve and its journal of communicationentirely above the low-water or liotation line, so Ythat no leakage can occur around the said journal-y bearing to lower the minimum water-level or destroy the buoyancy of the bucket-'float in any way when the device is temporarily out of use.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the trap, taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sec'- tion taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 3. Fig; 3 is a vertical-transverse section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. l is a side elevation, left endy broken away, valve-chamber open. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the valvechamber open, the valve-casing, valve, and

mechanism foroperating the latter. The rim of the rotary sleeve, as also in Fig. 3, with the connected parts are not in section.

My improved trap consists of a tank formed, preferably, of two flanged castings a, l), secured together at the anges c e by bolts and nuts in` the usual manner, so as to be water and steam tight, the principal cavity being in the upper casting ct.

d is the inlet for water of condensation,and e is the outlet for the discharged water.

Nithin the casting a is located a cross-partition f, which extends some distance below the low-water line w w, and the space thus cut off is in communication with a valve-chamber g, closed by the removable head 7i, secured by detachable bolts or other suitable means. The discharge-pipe e forms the outlet from this chamber. There is also a crossplate or shield-t at the other extremity of the tank directly in front of inlet-pipe d to deiiect the incoming water' each Way, so that it may not interfere with the free operation of the bucket-neat about to be described.

Within the tank is the bucket-float t', closed except for an inlet-tubej and an outlet-pipe or hollow arm 7c. The inlet-tube j is of such `a height that when the bucket reaches the `limit of its downward movement a low-Water level w w will be maintained ataheight sufiieient tokeep the bucket submerged at the limit of its upward movement. The bucket is therefore practically submerged at all times, with a constant buoyancy when empty, and oscillates in its position between two limits,

Lone defined by the low-water level w w and the other by a high-water level near the top `of the tank, each determined by the position of the mouth of the tube j at its lowest and highest points, respectively. The two posiytions of the bucket are shown in Fig. 1, that in fully lines being the lowermos't and that in dotted lines the uppermost position. It is not stationary except at these two points, the range of oscillation being sufficient to fully open and fully close the discharge valve, which is operated by theautomatic action of said bucket-neat, as hereinafter described. rlhe tubular arm k is rigidly attached to bucket vl and forms both a lever-arm for operating the discharge-valve and a discharge- IOO pipe for conveying the water from the interior of the bucket through the valve when open out at the discharge-pipe e. Said arm 7c terminates near the bottom of the bucket-float in order to cause the expulsion of the Water therefrom to the lowermost desired limit.

The upper end of arm Zt extends up behind partitionfto near the top of the cavity and quite above the Water-line w w, Where it forms an elbow, which is detachably connected, by means of rod m and lugs n, to a rotary sleeve Z, journaled Within the partition separating the water-cavity of the tank from the valveehamber g by means of the bushing o. Water can be freely discharged from said bucket into said valve-chamber by pressure in the tank through arm Zt and sleeve Z and thence out of the trap when the valve is open, but finds no exit when the valve is closed.

On the outer end of sleeve Z within the valvechamber, spaced from the sleeve', so as to permit the free passage of Water, is a lug p. It is secured to the sleeve, and the latter is detachably held to arm 7o by the confining-rod m, centrally supported within sleeve Z by said lug, which latter has a lever-like slotted projection With rocker-planes or knife-edges on top for sustaining and lifting the valve-stem q. Directly beneath said projection is the valve-case r of cylindrical form, placed upright at the mouth of discharge-Way u. The valve-seat t is at the bottom of this cylindrical case, and within the latter is the rotary valve y, provided with spiral Wings and guides, and to the valve is adjustably secured the upright valve-stem q, screw-threaded into the valve for adjustment purposes and provided With lock-nut '7 for fixing the adjustment. Said adjustment may, however, be provided for in any other equivalent way. An expanded head S sustains the stern and valve rotarily upon the rocker-surfaced slotted support s. As shown in Figs. 2, 5, the slotted projection of lug p for greater security snrrounds the valve-stem on the side farthest removed from the fulcrum-rod m.

An outlet 9, with screw-closing plug 6, is provided to permit of the blowing out of any sediment which may have accumulated in the bottom of the trap. Screw-plugs 10 ll alord access to the valve and to the cotter-pin confining the rod m. respectively.

Operation: Water of condensation entering through inlet-pipe oZ accumulates in the tank, enough having been originally placed therein at starting to form a water seal, raising the bucket by iotation to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, in which position the valve is entirely closed. The bucket remains in this position until by further accumulation the water pours into the bucket through the open tube j. The bucket soon begins to sink and going down suddenly lls and operates by its weight the short leverarm of lugp by means of the long lever-arm Zt, lifting the valve y from its seat. An outlet being thus formed the pressure in the tank forces the Water therein up through tubular arm Zt, sleeve Z, valve-chamber g, and valvecase r to the atmosphere or to a suitable receiver through exit-pipe e, rotating the valve y, by the Way, by means of spiral Wings thereon, giving it a twisting seat when it reseats itself. The Water in the tank falls until it reaches the Water-line w w and no farther; but the water in the bucket continues to fioW out under pressure until the bucket is so far emptied that its buoyancy is restored sufficiently to operate the sleeve Zand lug @when it rises to the high-level position, permitting the valve y to close and irmly seat itself, where it remains seated until the operation is repeated. The weight of the bucket is made sufcient to positively raise the valve olf from its seat under the pressure in the tank, While its capacity is such that it has suiicient buoyancy to relieve and close the valve before it becomes entirely emptied and steam passes to the valve-chamber. The position of the bucket-float and the high location of the rotary sleeve give the tubular arm Zt a long leverage relatively to the short arm of lugp on' sleeve Z, making it possible to open with a bucket of moderate weight a valve of considerable area against a corresponding high pressure.

The object ofthe partition f is to form a Water seal,Which isolates the inflow from that portion of the tank which communicates with the chamber g through bush o, thus preventing steam from escaping into the valve-chamber around the bush-bearing.

The placing of the passage between the tank and valve-chamber above Water-line w w is most important as providing against the lowering of the Water-level by leakage around the bush-bearing and thence into the bucket from the valve-chamber when the valve is closed. This Would be liable to occur if the bearing were placed lower than said Waterline, so that when the trap stood out of service for a time the bucketmight ll sufciently to sink and open the valve, With no means for closing the valve again, and when the trap was again called into service a large amount of steam would escape through the opened valve until there should be an accumulation of the Water of condensation sufficient to float the bucket and automatically restore the valve to the closed position, which would be a wasteful operation.

The specied mode of engaging the sleeve Z and lug p with the valve-stem is such that the valve readily responds to the lifting force, while free to rotate under the outgoing current. When the lifting force is removed, the pressure of the outiiowing stream closes the valve iirmlywvhile in the act of rotation, thus giving it a clean and fresh seat by torsional contact.

The mode of detachably connecting arm 7c with sleeve Z by lugs n and removable rod m IOO IIO

bly suspended outlet from said valve-chamber beyond said enables the mechanism in the valve-chamber to be removed and rearranged at any time without disturbing the mechanism inthe tank.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I. In an automatic steam-trap, a tank, an oscillatory bucket-float therein forming the only outlet from said tank, a pipe-inlet to said bucket, the height of which governs the level of the water in the tank, a hollow lever-arm secured to said bucket-float, journaled in said tank-wall at a point above the low-water level by means of a rotary tube or sleeve, a discharge-outlet beyond said sleeve, having a valve seated therein, and a short lever-arm between said rotary sleeve and said valve,where by the latter is lifted to open the dischargeoutlet upon the descent of the bucket-float; and closed upon the rising of said ioat, substantially as specified.

2. In an automatic steam-trap, a tank, a valve-chamber separate therefrom, an oscillatory bucket-oat in said tank, closed at tcp except for an inlet-pipe, the height of which governs the level of the water in the tank, a hollow lever-arm secured to said bucket-float,

forming the only outlet from the bucket and tank, a passage from said hollow arm through the wall of the tank into the valve-chamber at a point above low-water level, a dischargevalve in said valve-chamber, and means between said hollow arm and said valve to open the valve when the bucket falls and close the same when it rises, substantially as specified.

3. In an automatic steam-trap, a tank, a valve-chamber separate therefrom, a risingand-falling bucket-float in said tank having a pipe-inlet at top, the height of which determines the water-level in the tank, a hollow lever-arm secured to said bucket, forming the only outlet therefrom and from the tank,hav ing an elbow journaled in the wall between said tank and said valve-chamber above the low-water level by means of a rotary tubular connection, a short lever-arm within the valve-chamber attached to the tubular connection, a cylindrical valve casing and seat within the valve-chamber, a rotary spiral winged valve in said valve-casing, a valvestem on said valve, in engagement with said short lever-arm whereby the valve is revolutnerefrom, and a dischargevalve-casing and seat, substantially as speciiied.

4. In an automatic steam-trap, a tank, a

valve-chamber separate therefrom, a risingand-falling bucket-float in said tank, closed at top except for a pipe-inlet, the height of which governs the level of the water in, the tank,a hollow lever-arm secured to the bucketfloat, forming the only outlet from the bucket and tank, an elbow of said arm journaled in the tank-,wall above the low-water level by means of a revoluble bushed sleeve detachably connected to said elbow, a short leverarm secured to said sleeve within the valvechamber, a valve-stem revolubly supported by said short leverarm,a rotary spiral winged valve adjustably secured to said valve-stem, a valve-casing and valve-seat, and an outletpassage below said valve-seat, substantially v as specified.

5. In an automatic stea1ntrap,a tank, a bucket-float therein, having an inlet at top, a discharge-valve outside of said tank, connected to said bucket-float by means whereby the valve is opened when the bucket falls and is closed when it rises; a single outlet from said tank through a hollow arm mounted on said bucket-float, whereby the Water-level in the tank cannot sink below the bucket-inlet, and a passage-way from said bucket-heat through said hollow arm to the valve through the wall of the tank above low-Water level, substantially as specified.

6. In an automatic steamftrap, a tank, a

rising-and-falling bucket-iioat therein having an inlet-pipe at top, the height of which governs the water-level in the tank, a partition in said tank extending below low-water level, forming a chamber open at bottom and closed at top, a hollow lever-arm secured toV the bucket-float, forming the only outlet from the bucket and tank, a tubular -journaled .passage from said hollow arm through the wall of the tank within said partitioned chamber, above the low-water level, and a dischargevalve outside the tank communicating with said hollow arm and bucket-float by said tu' bnlar passage, and operated by the movements thereof, to pass the contents of the tank at intermittent periods, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I afx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM T. POWERS..

Witnesses:

v W. H. THOMAS,

JOHNy E. SWEET.

IOO 

